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JohnSteckroth
Community ManagerJoined Apr 01, 2020
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Join the Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) on Designing your Mesh Event starting today at 9amPT
We are very excited to host another ‘Ask Microsoft Anything’ (AMA) specific on how to create a great immersive experience. The AMA will take place on Tuesday, June 4th, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. PT. An AMA is a live online event similar to an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit. This AMA gives you the opportunity to connect with members of the product engineering team who will be on hand to answer your questions and listen to feedback. Designing Your Mesh Event: How to Create a Great Immersive Experience - Microsoft Community HubWhat’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Together Mode improvements
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the latest improvements to Together Mode. Together mode allows everyone to feel like they’re sitting in the same room with everyone else. Now, a user’s reactions and raised hands will appear on their person in the shared background making it even more expressive! There are also now name labels that support status icons, such as microphone, active speaker, spotlight, or pin within the meeting. This makes Together Mode more inclusive and easier to understand what is happening in the meeting. To experience the improvements go to View -> Together mode during their meeting. How often does your team use Together Mode? Which is your favorite gallery to use? Are there any specific features or abilities you'd like to see from the Together Mode experience?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Together Emojis
We’re discussing a new feature each week in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the new Together Emoji. I start every work day with a 'Good Morning' message to my team and I always include 4 random emojis from the Teams emoji catalog. It's a fun way to start the day and I'm constantly discovering new ones I hadn't used in prior messages. Now, Teams introduced Together Emojis, with the first one being high fives! Simply send a high five emoji in a Teams chat and when a chat participant responds with another high five emoji the two will meet in the middle and give each other high fives. It's really cool to see it in action. What other types of Together Emojis would you like to see? Have you tried the high five yet? Which animated Teams emoji is your favorite?Microsoft Teams AMA about Microsoft Teams Premium is Thursday, April 27 at 9amPDT!
Get your questions ready for the Microsoft Teams AMA specifically about Microsoft Teams Premium. The AMA will take place Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 9amPDT. We'll have members of the engineering team on hand to answer your questions. You can start posting your questions here in the AMA space.What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Expand Profile Card
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the new expanded view for profile cards. It’s always been convenient to hover over a user’s profile image and get some quick pieces of information about them but now you can expand the card to view even more details. To expand the profile card, click on “Show More” under the contact information in the initial profile card. The new expanded view of the profile card in Teams gives you the ability to see rich profile data like contact information, job title, organizational chart, and their LinkedIn profile. How often do you hover over other team members to view profile cards? Is there more information that you which was included in the profile cards?Microsoft Teams AMA about the new Teams is Thursday, April 13 at 9amPDT!
Get your questions ready for the Microsoft Teams AMA specifically about the new Teams announced at Enterprise Connect. The AMA will take place Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 9amPDT. We'll have members of the engineering team on hand to answer your questions. You can start posting your questions here in the AMA space.What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Video filters
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the ability to add video filters to your Teams meetings. Some of the coolest features in Microsoft Teams include blurring your background, adding different backgrounds, and softening the appearance of the video feed. Now, it’s being taken to the next level! Video filters allow you to remove unwanted distractions and better express yourself by bringing your personality to each meeting. Now, you can augment your video stream with visual effects ranging from animated frames to styles changing the video’s hue. You can apply these filters before you join a meeting from the lobby or add them to your current video feed. Do you use the background blur or do you change your background? How often do you show your actual surroundings while on camera? What kinds of video filters would you like to see?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – @ Mention Everyone in Chat
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the new ability to @ mention everyone in a chat. The ability to @ mention a specific individual in a group chat has been available since the beginning, but now you can @ mention everyone in the chat! We all have our notifications in Teams set up differently, but it can be difficult to prioritize which new messages in which group chats are most important. Personally, I put a different emphasis on messages where I have been @ mentioned because I feel that the rest of the group is now waiting on information from me. Now you can bring that level of notification to the whole group. When a user types @ everyone, all participants will receive a notification at once, removing the hassle of @ mentioning each person’s name one at a time. Do you react differently to being @ mentioned in a Teams group chat? How often do you @ mention multiple people in group chats?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Expanded Reactions
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the expanded reactions available in Teams chats. Emojis provide users with a fun way to express themselves in chats and channels, and there are over 800 Teams emojis for every situation. Personally, I start every day with a morning message using four random emojis that I think my team members will enjoy. Now, you can add emojis to the set of reactions, allowing you to pick from the entire library to creatively show how you agree, or disagree, with a message from users. There are times when the thumps up or heart just isn’t enough, and the thumbs down seems like too much. With this new ability, you can have more fun celebrating wins or emphasizing the completion of tasks. Which emoji will you add to your reactions list? Is there a specific emoji you use in chats more than all the others?Microsoft Teams AMA about the new Sign Language View starting soon!
Hey Team Community, We have a Microsoft Teams AMA (Ask Microsoft Anything) about the new Sign Language View today at 9amPST and would love it if you joined us! We have members of the product marketing and engineering teams to answer your questions about the new feature and about other accessibility features within Teams. Get your questions ready! Join us here: Microsoft Teams AMA space -JohnWhat’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Pop out shared content in separate window
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the ability to pop out shared content into a separate window. The pop out feature in Teams makes it really easy to keep multiple things open at the same time while collaborating. Previously, users could streamline their workflows by popping out individual chat conversations, meetings, and calling experiences into a separate window. Now, users can pop out shared meeting content into a separate window. This allows users to focus on shared content while still being able to see the meeting participants. I regularly pop out chats to review content between different colleagues and I can absolutely see myself using the pop out feature for shared content in meetings when others are presenting, especially when I’m using multiple monitors. How often do you pop out chats or meetings into a separate window? Do you think this new ability to pop out shared content will help keep the flow of meetings?What was your favorite Microsoft Teams feature announced at Microsoft Ignite?
What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Favorites from Microsoft Ignite! Hey Teams Community, Last week was Microsoft Ignite and there were all sorts of new features announced for Microsoft Teams. One of the highlights was Mesh avatars in private preview, but my favorite was the new Together Mode innovations. Together mode makes meeting participants feel more like they’re in the same room during virtual meetings. Meeting organizers and presenters can now assign seats to meeting participants in the Together mode view which can give a regularly scheduled meeting even more structure. There are many situations where people sit in the same seat every day for meetings and this innovation allows that to happen in a virtual space. The other new aspect of Together mode is the ability for meeting organizers and presenters to turn on Together mode for everyone in the meeting to have the same view. Both of these Together mode innovations are now generally available in Microsoft Teams.What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Together mode for everyone
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at viewing Together mode for everyone. Teams meetings can be even more immersive with Together mode, which creates a virtual shared space in which attendees appear to be sitting in the same room. Now, meeting organizers and presenters can start Together mode for all of the participants in the meeting. Previously, this view could only be enabled for your own personal view. To enable this feature, simply check the Select Together Mode for Everyone option after you choose a scene. This is currently only available for Teams Desktop users. How often do you use Together mode in your Teams meetings and are there specific types of meetings that it works best? Which is your favorite scene in Together mode?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Remove call from history
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the ability to remove a call from your history. Calling in Microsoft Teams allows you to make and receive calls from desktop or mobile device directly from the Teams app. In the calling page, you can see a history of your call log. Some users like to keep this history clean from unrelated callers, using the history page a quick way to continue using recent calls as contacts. To remove a call from the history, click the calls button and hover over the call you wish to remove. Click on the ellipsis and select “Remove from view” to remove the call from the history. Here is a video from Product Marketing Manager Aisha Miller showcasing how to remove a call from the call history. How often do you review your own call history? Do you use it as an easy way to return recent calls and does removing unneeded calls help to streamline your workflow?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Co-organizer meeting role
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the co-organizer meeting role. There are some meetings that require a lot of hands participating to make it a success. The new “co-organizer” role allows meeting organizers to share control with up to 10 meeting attendees. These attendees turned “co-organizers” are given most of the same capabilities as the organizer, including management of Meeting Options. The limitations of the new co-organizer role include the inability to create and manage breakout rooms, manage meeting recordings, and viewing attendance reports. Organizers can add co-organizers through Meeting Options and only invitees within the same tenant as the organizer are eligible for the co-organizer role. Here's a video from Aisha Miller showing how the feature works! There are several meetings each quarter where I can see myself using this role to ensure that everyone on my team can help provide support. This role would be great for when the team is managing a webinar or AMA where multiple people are working to make the event successful. What types of events or meetings do you see using this new role?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Meeting Chat Bubbles on iOS and Android
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the meeting chat bubbles on iOS and Android. The Microsoft Teams mobile app allows you to join meetings from your mobile device and now includes chat bubbles on the screen where you can preview the two most recent messages. This new feature allows you to stay in the meeting screen instead of manually opening the chat window within the meeting to see what participants are typing. You can temporarily turn them off while in the meeting by tapping on the snooze icon. Otherwise, you can also turn them off permanently by tapping on the “Don’t show chat bubbles” on the More Actions (…) menu. There are all sorts of reasons to join meetings from your mobile device. Sometimes the battery on your laptop is gone, you’re in the middle of traveling, or your computer started an update at an inopportune time. Having the Teams mobile app empowers users to join however it is convenient for their daily life. The meeting chat is a space I like to use to share notes and important links that are relevant to the meeting so that all of the participants will have them after the meeting is over. How do you usually use the meeting chat? How often do you take your meetings on your mobile device?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Polls in Teams meetings
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the latest enhancements to Microsoft Forms in Teams meetings. It can be difficult in large meeting groups to get everyone’s input on specific subjects and polls allow you to get immediate feedback from your colleagues. The first update was that the “Forms” app within Teams has been replaced with a new app named “Polls” making it easier for users to find and add polls to their chats and meetings. There were also several UI improvements to the poll suggestions pane and the ability to see a list of your recently created polls has been added so that you can re-use your past polls in new meetings. The poll result view has also been improved to be a more intuitive and easy-to-read experience, with color indications and dynamic results. Polls can make it possible to get everyone’s input, from big decisions about a project’s direction to figuring out where the group should order lunch. How often do you use polls during your meetings and what kind of subjects do you use them for?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Automatic groupings available for channel posts
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the ability to use automatic groupings in channel posts. Being able to reach the right people at the right time can be essential to quickly getting a project completed. Sometimes, you’ll post in a channel but users are working in a different area of teams and haven’t noticed the post. It can help to @ mention people directly in the post, but can be difficult to know exactly which individuals to ask. Now, you can notify the owners of the team all at once when creating a message post in a team channel by @ mentioning “Team Owners”. The grouping of “Team Owners” is automatically grouped and does not require any manual maintenance. I post a monthly update in several channels that doesn’t require immediate attention so there isn’t a need to @ mention users there, but when something is time sensitive, I usually try to get a specific person’s attention to kick off the conversation and I can see myself using this regularly. When you create posts in a channel, do you normally @ mention users?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – LinkedIn Integration
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the new LinkedIn integration in Teams. There are many ways to get to know your colleagues from inside Teams, from the Org Chart to the pop-up window that displays their email and time zone, but now you can view LinkedIn profiles from Teams chats, channels, calls, or meetings. The LinkedIn integration allows for you to quickly see your colleague’s current role, past experience, and lots of other insights which can help users connect and build deeper professional relationships. Learn how you can connect your LinkedIn and Microsoft accounts here. Personally, I love seeing where my colleagues were before they started at Microsoft and it’s exciting to see their professional journey. In most cases, these conversations are had when I first meet someone and start a project with them, using the question of past work experience as a great icebreaker, but as the team continues to grow its difficult to keep all of that straight. This integration gives me the ability to quickly get a glance of a colleague’s work and it could be an exciting way to network when I start looking for other roles. Do you see yourself jumping into this info from Teams often? Would it be useful to look at before starting a meeting with someone new? What kind of LinkedIn features would you like to see available from directly inside Teams?What’s New in Microsoft Teams Feature Spotlight – Adjust Brightness Filter
Hey Teams Community, We’re discussing a new feature each week mentioned in the monthly What’s New in Microsoft Teams and this week we’re looking at the ability to adjust the brightness of your video. Turning your video on during meetings is an excellent way to stay connected to your team while working remotely and makes it feel as if the whole team is in the same place. There are times when you are connecting from places that may not have the best lighting solutions and Teams is able to fix that with new abilities to adjust your video output. Now you can enhance the video quality by turning on the adjust brightness filter. This will make it easier for your team to see you when you’re a joining from areas where lighting is poor. You can also use the soft focus filter to apply a subtle smoothing effect. Both filters are now available before joining meetings, as well as during meetings. You can turn them on by navigating to the device settings. Personally, I turn on my camera in about half of my meetings. I make a point of turning on my camera anytime I’m meeting a person virtually for the first time and I usually use Presenter mode when showing PowerPoints to the team. The lighting in my apartment is usually pretty great, but on cloudy days here in Seattle I can see me needing to use this brightness filter. How often do you turn your during meetings? Do you have your own guidelines as to when its necessary? Do you use any specific lighting solutions?
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